Kyrgyzstan's former Deputy Prime Minister Shamil Atakhanov has been arrested over the early release from prison in 2013 of one of the country’s most notorious crime bosses.
The press center of Kyrgyzstan's Interior Ministry says that in accordance with Article 98 of Kyrgyzstan’s Penal Code, Atakhanov was placed in pretrial detention facility on May 21on suspicion of involvement in the illegal early release of Aziz Batukayev.
Atakhanov served as vice-premier when Batukayev was granted early release after being diagnosed with leukemia in 2013.
His diagnosis was later found to have been falsified.
The Interior Ministry says that former Health Minister S.D. and an ex-adviser to the head of the State Penitentiary Service K.K. were also detained in the case. The detainees were reportedly placed in pretrial detention facility # 1.
Besides, four medical doctors were detained on suspicion of aiding Batukaev’s early release.
Batukayev’s release in April 2013 caused a scandal that led to Atakhanov's resignation and the sacking of the country's Ombudsman.
According to Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service, Batukayev, an ethnic Chechen, was sentenced in 2006 to nearly 17 years in a prison for his involvement in several serious crimes — including the murders of a Kyrgyz lawmaker and an Interior Ministry official.
After his release, Batukayev immediately left for Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya.
